Some judges like to go the extra mile to help people standing before them in their courtroom. Judge Lou Olivera is without a doubt, one of those people.
When he heard the story of Army veteran Joe Serna who he had to sentence to a night of jail, he decided to spend the night in jail together with him.
Joe Serna, a Special Forces Army veteran who did three tours in Afghanistan, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder ever since he returned home. The former Green Beret has been given two purple hearts for his bravery and has seen the most terrible things in the war zone.
Joe had survived an IED (a strong explosive device), an attack by a suicide bomber, and was also the sole survivor of an accident when an army truck was submerged under water in a creek. Ever since the accident with the truck, Joe has had issues with small spaces.
The 41-year old was charged with a couple of traffic offenses but mainly had to defend himself in court because of driving under the influence.
The court itself holds veterans in high regard and does whatever it can to help them out, and give any assistance where needed. The court asked the veteran to stay sober and periodically check in every two weeks.
Joe admitted after a positive result from his last urinalysis that he lied to the court and was drinking again. Judge Lou Olivera – an army veteran himself as he served in the Gulf War – sentenced him to one night in jail.
When the man is transferred to his cell the following day, the judge arrived a couple of minutes later.
“When Joe first came to turn himself in, he was trembling,” the judge said. “I decided that I’d spend the night serving with him.”
“I knew what Joe was going through and I knew Joe’s history,” he told CBS Evening News. “I knew he had to be held accountable, but I just knew…I had to go with him.”
Joe was surprised to see the man walking in and giving him hope and compassion.
“They take me to the cell, and I’m sitting on my bunk. And, then, in walks the judge,” he said. “I knew this was a very compassionate man.”
Judge Lou Olivera knew Joe’s backstory and knew that he’d feel incredibly uncomfortable because of his fear of tight spaces and PTSD. The two ate meatloaf together and talked about their families. After the night in jail, Joe happily said that “the walls [between them] were no longer there.
“He took me back to North Carolina,” Joe said. “He took me from a truck in Afghanistan back to North Carolina.”
Afterward, the two hugged each other and Joe promised the judge that there would be no more screw-ups.
What an amazingly compassionate man!
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